Monday, September 29, 2008

First, Chinese-produced toys are poisoned. Then, tainted Chinese milk poisons thousands of children. And now as a result of the very same milk scare, Cadbury is recalling Chinese-made chocolates. They really need to get it together over there!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

From a candy perspective, one of the best things about living in the Detroit area is the close proximity it provides to Canadian sweets. Ever since I was little I have loved these Marshmallow Strawberries that my mom would buy for me when we went to Windsor, Ontario. I was reunited with them on my recent visit to Toronto. For some reason I cannot find them in the United States! Seriously, why can't someone import these babies in bulk?

The marshmallow strawberry is a beautiful thing. Each small, dome-shaped piece is roughly half the size of a real strawberry. A fine, sparkling red sugar covers each pink, strawberry-flavored marshmallow. The flavor of the marshmallow is perfectly artificial strawberry, kind of like strawberry Nesquik - fragrant, but not too sweet. The texture of the marshmallow is perfect. They are not too soft and fluffy, almost like semi-stale Peeps, and we all know Peeps are best when stale.

I think marshmallow strawberries are also readily available in parts of Europe by Haribo, but the Haribo ones are smaller. There is a Canadian retailer that sells them online, Bonbon's Connexion Candy, but I have no personal experience buying from them. If you're ever in Canada try these!

Sunday, September 07, 2008

I just returned from a few days of visiting the lovely city of Toronto. While it may be a hassle to pick up and move my entire life to another country, I think I have found the home to make it worth my while. I was walking down trendy Queen Street West when I spotted it, my dream home - The Candy Factory Lofts. Yes my friends, a real former candy factory converted into lofts. Sigh.

I did some research when I got home and discovered that the building which now houses The Candy Factory Lofts was once home to the Ce De Candy Inc. Ce De Candy Inc. is the creator of, and how perfect is it that it's one of my favorite candies, Smarties! And by Smarties, I mean American Smarties, which are sold in Canada under the name Rockets in order to avoid confusion with the "Smarties" sold in Canada that are the British ones and more like M&Ms. During my research I also discovered that there are more candy factory lofts right here in the US-of-A in San Antonio and Chicago. Is it time for me to relocate?